Improvement in coverings for monumental tombstones



'E. F. TOWERS." Covering for Monumental Tombstones.

No. 198,712. Patented Dec. 25, 1877.

N,FETER5, PHOTO LITHOGRAPHER. \IQSHINGTONv D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT QF'FIGEQ ELLEN F. TOWERS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT lNcovEnmcs FOR MONUMENTALTOMBSTONES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 198,712, dated December 25, 1877; application filed December 8, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELLEN F. TOWERS, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improved Ooverin g for Monumental Tombstones, of which the following is a specification:

The invention relates to coverings for tombstones or monuments erected to perpetuate the memory of the dead.

Ornamental monuments and tablets are liaable to injury by exposure to the frosts, ice, and storms of winter, and it is usual to protect them during the winter by coverings of frames and boards, which are expensive, and at the same time injury may result from the rust of nails, and from drippings from the structures upon the monumental works.

My invention is a covering made of indiarubber cloth or any equivalent water-proof fabric, made up with a suitable frame or cap, fitted to the monument so as to cover any monument or tombstone, and the cover part or bottom of said covering has holes, through which pins or pegs may made a part of this specification, Figure 1 represents a monument covered with india-rubber cloth, and fastened to the ground by pins or pegs. Fig. 2 represents the monument with a cap-piece on the top, and saidcap-piece has four cords attached to the same, one cord at each corner, going to the ground at the base of the monument, and is there fastened into the ground by means of pins or pegs, or any suitable fastenings. Fig. 3 is a vertical so covered, as in section of said monument Fig. 1.

The letterA represents the covering, and said covering is formed so as to fit the monument, and the edges of the fabric where they be driven into the ground; or any suitable fastening may be atcome together are gummed, or are brought to gether and made impervious to Water, and throughthe lower edges of the coveringIhave made eyelet-holes, through which pins 0 c fasten the covering to the ground; but any suitable fastening may be substituted in the place of the pins.

Theletter B represents any monument or tombstone, whether its form is that-of a shaft or column or slab, or whatever its form.

O I have represented as the ground at the base of the monument. a is a cap-piece, having, in a shaft of this description, a hole inits center for the point of the shaft or pyramid, and pins (1 d, &c., underneath, one on each side, projecting downward for the purpose of keeping the cap in position; and also I have fastened cords b b, &c., to said cap, one at each corner, and said cords are designed to extend to the ground, and are there fastened, serving both to keep the cap in place and to keep the covering from sticking to the monument, and also the covering in proper shape.

In place of the cap-piece, I may have any frame suited to the monument or tombstone to be covered, whether said frame is connected with the ground, as above described, or not; and the only object of the frame at all is to keep the covering from the surface of the monument, and may not be in all cases necessary or indispensable for that purpose. The covering should be thick and strong, and the edges of the fabric should be well gummed, so as to prevent any moisture from going through into the inner side of the covering,

and when taken from the monument should be well dried before packing away.

Such coverings, well cared for, dealers in india-rubber goods think will last at least four years, and be much cheaper than Wooden coverings, and will keep the monuments free from all discoloration incident to the covering by wood put together in the ordinary way.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. For monuments and tombstones, a covering,A, made of india-rubber cloth or an equiva lent water-proof fabric, which is provided with holes 0 0 near its lower edge, through which pins 00 are thrust to fasten the same to the ground, for the purpose shown and described.

2. The combination of the cap-piece a, having pegs or screws dd ddunderneath, or an equivalent frame-work, with the covering A, pro- Vided with holes 0 a near its lower edge, through which pins 0 0 are thrust into the ground, all for the purpose shown and described.

3, The combination of the cap a, or an equivalentframe-work,having cords b b b b, substantially as shown, with the covering A, which has near its lower edge holes in the same, and fastenings to the ground, for the purpose shown and described.

J. L. NEWTON, ANNA M. RUGGLES. 

